Marie Barbe de Portugal
(July 20th, 1729 - Present) is a French Noblewoman and current Dauphine de France et Navarre, and Infanta de Portugal. Born to King João V of Portugal and his Archduchess consort, Queen Maria Anna of Austria. She was the first of four children in total, making her the oldest as well. By marriage, she was seen as the second most important woman in the French Kingdom (After the Queen herself.) She was disliked by many because she was a foreigner and enjoyed her culture much more than France's. Kindhearted, sensitive, and idiotic were the best words to describe the Infanta, the King wrote, "My fil's wife, Barbe is ever so kind. She lifts the court's spirits when they are low, but she is awful as keeping composure, she often makes a scene in front of my court, but I suppose she is just a sensitive woman, like the rest of them. She is also a fool. I guess in Portugal they do not educate the woman more than the men, 'pose that's fine." Long strawberry blonde curls, which cascaded down her back like a waterfall, slanted emerald green eyes, a long Roman nose, and the plumpest lips. Alongside an olive skin tone; common for her culture. Barbe was beautiful in the eyes of Portugal, not so much France though. She was an alliance deal for the War of Portuguese Succession; along with the king's daughter, Marie-Adelaide who was given to Portugal to wed the Prince of Brazil. She disliked the French for causing such a thing, so she refused to go along with the French culture and remained in her own. She did not have affairs, in fact, she would never "Sleep with a man from France, other than my husband. Even if I do not like him either." Biography Birth Born Maria Barbara Teresa Xavier Leonor Antónia Josefa do Portugal, Barbara was the eldest child of King John V of Portugal and Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, a daughter of Emperor Leopold I. She was baptized Maria Barbara Teresa Xavier Leonor Antónia Josefa do Portugal, her names honoring a number of saints and relatives. She was usually referred to as Bárbara or Maria Bárbara, a name never before used among Portuguese royalty but given in honor of Saint Barbara. Although her parents were married in 1726, they remained childless for nearly three years. The King then made a promise to God that if an heir to the throne was born, a great convent would be built as a sign of gratitude. On 20 July 1729 Barbara was born, and, as promised, the King had the Convent of Mafra built. Barbara was born heir-presumptive to the Portuguese throne and styled Princess of Brazil. Her status as heir-presumptive came to an end two years later when her mother gave birth to a son, Pedro. Though Pedro died at the age of two, the queen had already had born another boy, Joseph, and hence Barbara never became heir-presumptive again. Though, this didn't affect her at all, seeing as she was only two, so she didn't even remember such a thing. Alongside this, her parents had a strange fear that the young Infanta was insane, (She really wasn't) so to avoid the risk of the death of their only son, they did not tell the girl she was the Heir for some while. Childhood & Education Barbara grew up as a normal Infanta of Portugal should. She learned all there was to learn. But, she had trouble paying attention and by the end of her education, she was only book smart. She could talk all about what she read in books and of literature. But she couldn't name any historical King/Queen unless it was in a book, or she knew them personally. During her education, the infamous War of the Portuguese Succession took place after the King of Spain tried to press a "claim" on her father's Kingdom. At age 10 she was betrothed to the Dauphin de France, Charles Jean, son of the famous Charles XV and his English-born wife as an alliance tool for France and Portugal. At the same time the Dauphin's sister, Marie-Adelaide was betrothed to her brother, the Prince of Brazil. This made the young Infanta feel rather worthless, feeling like she was a map rather than a person with a personality and heart. But, no matter the troubles she went through to try and break the betrothal, nothing worked. Dauphine de France et Navarre In 1744 at the age 15, Barbara married the Dauphin de France, Charles Jean de Valois, one year her senior. Her brother Joseph married Charles's sister, Madame Marie-Adelaide. The double marriage was meant to repair the Portuguese-French alliance. During their time as Dauphin and Dauphine, Charles and (Now known as) Barbe became the target of the opposition known as the French party, in parallel with France's deteriorating relations with Portugal. From 1744 until 1746 they were kept more or less under house arrest in their apartments, prevented from appearing in public and watched by the spies of Queen Charlotte-Anne. This gave Barbe the time to deepen her relationship with Charles, an overbearing person with ill-health Barbe was not considered beautiful by the French people, in fact, Dauphin Charles was said to be embarrassed by Barbe's "hideous Portuguese features". However, Charles soon became deeply attached to her, sharing her passion for books and soon becoming dependent on her for advice and support. The French ambassador noted, "it is rather Barbe who will succeed Charles XV rather than Charles Jean." Though Barbe was not a very educated woman, she surely knew what she was doing when it came to politics, and she was, of course, an avid reader who enjoyed comedies to fantasies. Children and Court Favorites By 1746 Barbe still refused to switch to the French culture, she had only one child by that time too, and a percentage of the court did not expect more to be produced. To the Court's luck though, it was a young boy, Louis Marie Auguste and given the title, Duc d'Anjou. Barbe did not like him at all, the child was messy and cried too much. When the child was born the first thing Barbe had said was, "I'd rather die giving birth to that child than to live with it for the rest of my life." This, of course, was taken as a great insult to both Charles Jean and Charles XV, not the mention his wife. Barbe disliked the Queen so much that she could not stand to be in the same room with her unless it was needed. Barbe and her husband had little court favorites. But Barbe's closest companion was her lady in waiting from Portugal, Mademoiselle de Alorna. They both spent most of their time gossiping and having tea in their chambers. Another favorite (But more or so a friend.) was her sister-in-law, Marie-Josephine de France. The young woman was not to wed, as she was a favorite of her father's as well. Josephine though, did not gossip but she sure did love literature and was one of the most famous salonnière of her time. The two often hosted them in l'Hotel de Louvois, the hotel given to the Madame after receiving the title Duchesse de Louvois.